Oil can spouts



July 21, 1959 A.L. FLADUNG OIL CAN SPOUTS Filed July 25, 1958 Fig/fINVENTOR.

Albert L. Flodung A 7' TOR/VE Y United States Patent 01L CAN SPOUTSAlbert L. Fladuug, Akron, Colo., Feather Manufacturing Company, acorporation of Colorado assignor to Clark- Fort Morgan, Colo.,

This invention relates to an oil can spout, and has for its principalobject the provision of a quick-attachable spout which can be quicklyand easily applied to a conventional can of oil, more particularly tothe familiar quart cans of oil as dispensed in automotive fillingstations, and which will provide a relatively long, convenient, flexiblespout for the can so that it may be used for general oil can oilingpurposes.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the attachable spoutthat it can be used to pierce the top of the can and to provide meansfor attaching the spout to the can by means of a screwdriver or othersimple tool.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved attachable oil can spout as itwould appear prior to attachment to a can;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-section through the top of an oil can,illustrating a step in applying the spout to the can;

Fig. 3 is a similar cross-section illustrating the spout in thecompletely attached position;

Fig. 4 illustrates a sheet metal blank as used for forming a tubularnipple for use in the improved spout;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the completed nipple as formed fromthe blank of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section looking downwardly on the line 6-6, Fig. 3;and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional oil can withthe improved spout applied thereto ready for use.

For the purposes of illustration, a conventional can of oil of the typeused in automobile filling stations is illustrated at 10, with its topat 11.

The improved spout comprises a tubular nipple 12 formed by rolling apreformed blank of sheet metal into a tube. The preformed blank of sheetmetal, shown in Fig. 4, is provided with spaced-apartlongitudinally-extending slots 13 which divide a portion of the lengthof the blank into parallel, longitudinally extending, corrugatedexpansion strips 14. The preformed blank of Fig. 4 is rolled into acylinder to produce the tubular nipple 12, there being one of theexpansion strips 14 extending longitudinally along each side of thecylinder.

An internally threaded plug 15 is forced in, cast in, or soldered in thelower extremity of the nipple 12. A winged fitting 16, provided with abase pad 17, is forced over the upper portion of the nipple 12 and ispreferably "ice soldered thereon, as indicated at 18. A resilientsealing washer 19 is forced over the cylinder against the pad 17 of thefitting 16 above the expansible corrugated expansion strips 14.

For intallation purposes, an elongated, threaded screw 20 is positionedin the nipple 12 and threaded through the plug 15. The screw 20 isprovided with an enlarged head 21 at its upper extremity, arranged toreceive a screw driver or similar tool, and with a relatively sharppoint 22 at its lower extremity. The screw 20 is of a length to allowthe point 22 to project slightly downward beyond the plug 15, when thehead 21 is in contact with the top of the nipple 12, as shown in Fig. 1.

To apply the improved spout to the top 11 of the can 10, the point ofthe screw 20 is positioned at the desired point on the can top and thehead 21 of the screw 20 is struck to cause the point 22 to perforate thecan top 11 so as to provide an entrance opening therein through whichthe entire nipple is driven until the sealing washer 19 rests upon thetop 11. The fitting 16 is now gripped by the fingers of one hand toprevent rotation of the nipple 12 and the screw 20 is tightened with theother hand to cause the plug 15 to travel upwardly along the threads ofthe screw. This upward movement of the plug 15 collapses the expansionstrips 14 tightly against the under surface of the can top 11, as shownin Fig. 3, until a fluid-tight seal is attained between the sealingwasher 19 and the top of the can.

The screw 20 is now unscrewed, withdrawn, and discarded, so that thenipple 12 will provide an open outlet tube through which the oil can bedispensed from the can. If a more extended outlet tube is desired, alength of flexible, resilient tubing 23, of flexible plastic or rubberis fitted snugly over the upwardly projecting nipple 12 for delivery ofthe oil. The tubing 23 can be used for dispensing oil from the can 10into smaller containers or into the oil filling spouts of automotivevehicles.

For ordinary oil can uses, a hollow, tapered tip 24 is frictionallyslipped into the upper extremity of the flexible tubing 23. The tip 24provides a spout of the conventional oil can by means of which oil canbe forced into oil holes in machinery and the like, by pressure on thebottom of the can similarly to the conventional oil can. Since thetubing 23 is flexible, the spout 24 may be bent into any desiredposition, as shown in broken line in Fig. 7.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied,within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

An attachable spout for a closed container comprising: an elongatedtubular nipple; corrugated expansion strips extending longitudinally ofsaid nipple, said strips being separated by longitudinally extendingslots formed in said nipple adjacent the lower extremity of said nipple;an internally threaded tapered plug fixedly mounted in the lowerextremity of said nipple; a winged fitting having a base pad mountedadjacent the upper extremity of said nipple; a sealing washersurrounding said nipple adjacent said fitting; a pointed penetratingscrew extending longitudinally through said sleeve and projectingdownwardly beyond said plug; and a head on said screw resting againstthe upper extremity of said nipple so that pressure on said head willforce said screw and said nipple through the top of said container, andso that when said holding member is maintained stationary and said screwis rotated, it will cause said-plug to travel toward the inner surfaceof the top of said container compressing the expansion stripsthereagainst to maintain said sealing washer against the top of saidcontainer so that when said screw is removed, said nippl'ewill formapouringspout for said container, and a. tapered flexible dispensing tubemounted on said nipple.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Parkes Apr. 13, 1915 Owen Mar. 6, 1928 CroessantJuly 3, 1951

